Earlier this week, on April 30, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) quietly modified its source determination test that is used to determine whether emissions from nearby and closely related sources should be...more
5/7/2018
/ Air Pollution ,
Clean Air Act ,
Department of Environmental Protection ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Landfills ,
Oil & Gas ,
Permits ,
Separate Entity Rule ,
Source Determination Rule ,
Title V
On April 30, 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal Register a controversial proposed rule seeking to restrict the types of scientific research and findings that the EPA can consider in...more
5/2/2018
/ Confidential Information ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Register ,
Non-Public Information ,
Proposed Rules ,
Proprietary Information ,
Public Health ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Safe Drinking Water Act ,
Scientific Research ,
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) ,
Transparency
On April 11, 2018, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued a Memorandum titled “Guidance on the recent M-Opinion affecting the Migratory Bird Treaty Act” (the “Memorandum”), giving field advice to its enforcement...more
4/23/2018
/ Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act ,
Department of the Interior ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Incidental Take Permits ,
Memorandum of Guidance ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
Oil & Gas ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service
On April 3, 2018, Susan Bodine, Assistant Administrator of U.S. EPA’s Office of Enforcement Assurance and Compliance Assistance (OECA), issued an internal memorandum titled “The Appropriate Use of Compliance Tools in Civil...more
On February 23, 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a prepublication notice to change the Oil and Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources rule (“2016 Rule”). The...more
On February 20, 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a notice in the Federal Register requesting public comment on whether the EPA can regulate discharges to groundwater that flow to jurisdictional...more
• The Opinion finds that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) prohibits only affirmative and purposeful actions to take migratory birds. Incidental takes that are not the purpose of an action, even if they are direct and...more
On Thursday, June 22, 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a series of actions implementing its new authority to review the safety of chemicals already in U.S. commerce under the recently amended Toxic...more
President Trump’s decision earlier this month to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement—an international, nonbinding agreement to take steps to limit global temperature rise—followed a series of moves at the...more
6/20/2017
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Commercial Buildings ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Tax Incentives ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Global Warming ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
Methane ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paris Agreement ,
Power Plants ,
Renewable Energy ,
Trump Administration ,
Universities
On June 12, 2017, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt announced another extension to the effective date of the Obama-era rule amending federal Risk Management Program (RMP) requirements for...more
On June 1, 2017, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the Paris Agreement (the “Agreement”), describing it as “disadvantaging the United States” and indicating that the United States...more
6/14/2017
/ Article II ,
Barack Obama ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Green Climate Fund (GCF) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) ,
Modification ,
Paris Agreement ,
Trump Administration ,
UNFCCC ,
Withdrawal
In the midst of President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, shareholders are demanding greater transparency regarding climate change risks. While publicly-traded companies are often adept at disclosing...more
This week, President Trump announced his decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, describing it as “disadvantaging the United States” and indicating that the United States will “cease implementation”...more
6/3/2017
/ Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Global Warming ,
Investment Funds ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paris Agreement ,
Popular ,
Renewable Energy ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trump Administration
Regulatory reform has dominated the Trump administration’s environmental policy agenda to date, fueled by Executive Orders requiring agencies to identify unnecessary regulations for revision or outright rescission, and to...more
President Trump has given executive branch agencies 180 days to conduct an internal review and to propose, with input from public stakeholders, reorganization plans to “improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and...more
Only months after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) first contacted thousands of oil and gas companies demanding detailed information regarding methane releases from gas production facilities and related equipment, it...more
Here is our annual list of hot topics for the boardroom in the coming year:
Corporate strategy: Oversee the development of the corporate strategy in an increasingly uncertain and volatile world economy with new and more...more
The results of the U.S. presidential election are historic and unanticipated, and they will have significant economic, political, legal and social implications. As we prepare for the Trump presidency, many uncertainties...more
11/17/2016
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cybersecurity ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Foreign Policy ,
Health Insurance ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Tax Reform ,
Trade Policy ,
Trump Administration
It looks like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will have its own scary treat for the oil and gas industry this Halloween—an information request under Section 114 of the Clean Air Act designed to help EPA regulate...more
Critics Claim “Intimidation” -
Earlier this month, on September 14, 2016, feuding parties gathered before the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology to address the legitimacy of subpoenas sent to the New York...more
9/28/2016
/ Attorney General ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Energy & Climate Debates ,
FBI ,
Fraud ,
Government Investigations ,
Legislative Committees ,
Oil & Gas ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Subpoenas
On September 19, 2016, the Inspector General (IG) for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the latest in a long line of reports identifying flaws in EPA’s process for ensuring the efficacy of hospital-grade,...more
On August 2, 2016, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) released a Final Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Effects of Climate Change in National...more
Since its passage in 1976, TSCA has been widely criticized—by industry and environmental groups alike—for its perceived inefficacy. When first passed, TSCA aimed to fill an important gap in the nation’s environmental laws,...more
On April 22, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a Concept Release seeking public comments on potential revisions to Regulation S-K, the SEC’s principal rules governing disclosure requirements for...more
On June 2, 2014, the Obama Administration unveiled an ambitious administrative proposal that would require states to regulate carbon dioxide (“CO2”) emissions from existing fossil fuel power plants, reducing emissions from...more
6/5/2014
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Obama Administration ,
Power Plants ,
Renewable Energy ,
RGGI